SMITHFIELD, R.I. – For a while, it looked like Wednesday night could be a bad case of deja vu for Yale. The second half basically belonged to them for stretches, and they had the game’s biggest lead at 60-51 with just over seven minutes to play. Before long, though, that lead was gone, the victim of an 11-2 run by Bryant. History might repeat itself in a milder – but no less heart-breaking – fashion.
Then came the stickback. It was just in time. It was by a freshman. Most of all, it meant a 64-62 win for Yale, and one they could use given what lies ahead.
Yale head coach James Jones said there wasn’t any thought back to the season opener, where Yale blew a 24-point second-half lead en route to losing to Sacred Heart in overtime. “That kind of thing happens once in a lifetime,” said Jones, noting that so many things need to happen that might happen separately but not together for that to happen. But they didn’t do a good job of protecting the lead in this one just like in the opener, and that is probably a concern.
Certainly, Yale has to count their blessings from Wednesday night, even though some good things happened. While they surrendered the aforementioned lead, they could have fallen behind, but with the game tied Bryant missed the front end of a one-and-one on three separate occasions. The last one led to the stickback, and it was started by the guy who rebounded it.
Freshman Justin Sears rebounded and got the ball to senior point guard Michael Grace, who ran up the floor. Yale didn’t call timeout, and Grace got to the left side and put up a shot that missed. Waiting for it on the right side was Sears, who put it back in before the buzzer sounded and let Yale escape with a win.
The stickback ended a 20-point, nine-rebound outing for Sears, a talented freshman who has started almost every game since arriving in New Haven. The 20 points (on 10-16 shooting) is a career high for a forward with a lot of upside. He plays as more of a power forward now, but he’s athletic enough to one day play small forward, which Jones said he hopes to do. With skill development and the inevitable physical maturity, he could get there. Jones looked right across the court for an example of what he thinks Sears could be in mentioning Bryant junior Alex Francis, who Sears was matched up on at times.
“Hopefully Justin turns into a player like that,” said Jones. “He’s got a great upside and we’re fortunate to have him, and hopefully he continues to play.”
Added senior Austin Morgan: “He’s got oodles of talent. His physical gifts are apparent. If he keeps playing hard and keeps getting better, the sky is the limit.”
Speaking of Morgan, he was one of the bright spots on the night, but it wasn’t in the box score. The team’s leading scorer had just six points on 2-6 shooting, both coming in a short stretch in the second half. He was also dogged by foul trouble in the first half, and a few minutes into the second half he had a turnover before hitting two three-pointers. Give him credit for continuing to compete on a night he wasn’t getting or hitting shots.
“He’s tough as nails, and we rely on him for so much,” Jones said of Morgan. “He has the most experience returning, so he’s been through the wars, he’s been through all of these situations that the other guys haven’t.”
Sears knows one reason Yale has to have some balance, as they did Wednesday night (Jones took note of how everyone who played in the game scored), is because Morgan is now the focus of opposing defenses. He’s not a complementary player like he was last season, when Greg Mangano and Reggie Willhite were there.
“Now teams are keyed in on him, so other guys are going to have to step up and help him out,” said Sears.
One of those players is Jeremiah Kreisberg, who emerged last year as a nice sidekick to Mangano inside. The senior post player had back surgery in the summer and is still a little ways from being all the way back, as it slowed him in practice before the games got going. Kreisberg has been working with Sears to help the frontline be this team’s strength, and that was important Wednesday night with Morgan’s struggles. He had a season-high 14 points on 6-8 shooting.
“He’s just starting to turn the corner to play better,” Jones said of Kreisberg.
Added Sears: “I thought this was a breakout game for Jeremiah.”
Jones said he wants to see this team lead the Ivy League in assists and rebounding given his team’s personnel. They haven’t done the best job of either this season, as they’re being out-rebounded (Bryant had a 33-28 edge on the glass) and have about a 3:4 assist/turnover ratio. The good thing is that they were better against Bryant in taking care of the ball, handing out 12 assists with eight turnovers, so there’s hope they can get there with this game as a starting point.
“If we were sharing the ball and leading the league in assists, that means that everybody was getting involved and we made the extra pass,” said Jones. “Those are things that we do that can lead to success for us.”
On Wednesday night, Yale began a stretch where they play six of their next seven games on the road. Life in the Ivy League usually means a lot of time spent on the road, but that doesn’t make this stretch any easier. After Christmas, they have the toughest part of that as they travel to Nevada, Saint Mary’s and Iowa State before one close to home at Holy Cross. They finally come home after that, but it’s not the most winnable of home games as Florida comes to New Haven.
Wins and losses aren’t the primary concern for Jones at this point, however. Getting wins will help, but this team isn’t getting an NCAA Tournament at-large bid so it will be all about how they do in Ivy League play. Before then, they hope to keep making the kind of progress they showed on Wednesday night.
